Having the site down allowed for a tremendous amount of backend work to be done (a more thorough IT explanation in the next post). For those not familiar with that side of things, an analogy would be that we were constantly maintaining, patching and repairing a crumbling building. The last few days enabled the old building to be demolished, new foundations laid, materials tested and then assembled.

Now, we can, without constant distraction,...

Last post

Hope no one minds but I'm going to close/lock this thread and correspond directly with the posters above via email. Juggling a few too many things atm, still IT stuff :dunno: .

goulaigan will be first on my list of emails. The email will be called rsync nightmare.

:) Thanks again for the above,
Pat

P.S. That busy that Sarah and I haven't even had a beer together in the last fortnight :O

The following problems should only affect a tiny fraction of users.
If using Google Chrome, you may find ; upon registration, after solving the Captcha or 'Sortable' correctly you are told you are incorrect; not being able to login using your proper username and password; when posting, finding the 'Add Files' button not working.

Solution/s

This problem is extremely rare although a few users on other phpBB forum software...

Last post

Got a strange one Pat & Sarah. I received a My first post notification so I clicked on it...It took me to page 324 . Seems to be 327 pages :think: :think: :think: Tried it 3x and same result..I went back to yesterdays email and the notification went through properly ..
J

As mentioned in the post 2017 - A Major New Year for the Site , an incredible amount of work has been spent on the new site structure, which will make the information on BIABrewer.info fast and easy to find.

In this thread, I'll try to explain the coming changes in a series of posts, which I'll endeavour to write every few days or so. These updates will include, but not be limited to:

Why 2017 and Not...

Last post

NOTE: IF YOU USE GMAIL, PLEASE ADD OUR WEBMASTER EMAIL TO YOUR LIST OF SAFE SENDERS
Hi there shetc and thanks for your questions.

In the temporary skin (the one with green header) active topics can be changed at the bottom. In the Gold skin, this option is accessed by clicking the filter button arrowed in the pic below BUT that button is failing (see Update below).

In the new site structure, recipes will be much easier to find but I like your idea of being able to search for posts with...

[Like all, The Basics, in the General Brewing Skills section, the following is not a definitive guide. It is simply a guide that will get a new brewer under way safely and with confidence. Please advise BIABrewer of any errors. Please justify, in full, any contrary topics that you may choose to start in this forum. If well-written and justified, they will be, promoted, as best as we are able.]

All brewers, new and experienced, are encouraged to start new topics in this section provided they...

Any all-grain brewer, traditional or BIAB, should view crushing the grain as aiming to break the grain open not pulverise it. Regard the grain as a container that holds sugar. You simply want to open that container.

The recommendation you often read, that, with BIAB, you can crush as fine as you like, is poor advice. If you pulverise your grain or turn it into flour, you are causing two problems. The first is that the resulting beer can develop tannin flavours. These flavours come from the...

I've been getting my water temp to 67C, usually up to 69C then adding grain in to get 67C, and maintaining this for 60mins prior to boiling. So far this has been my standard MO for all brews. Reading further though, I realise that higher or lower temps will possibly give dryer or sweeter wort. Wanting to try a mash temp at 62C to achieve a dryer finish on my next Stout should I extend the time beyond the 60min mark to say 90min?

Last post

To ensure the best mash we recommend 90min mashes and stirring on occasion. The stirring helps wash the sugars from the grains.

Tomorrow I'm brewing a Schwartz beer and my friend recommended adding the specialty grains (carafa I, roasted barley, chocolate) in the last 30mins of the 90min mash. He says adding them to early I risk getting a sour taste from the roasted husks, in the finished beer.

He recommended bring the mash temp to 70 and then adding them for 30mins. Any thoughts?

(Btw his schwartz beer won gold at the nationals ​last year)

The last Schwartz beer I made did turn out sour but I think it...

Last post

For roasted malts, I add them when I start increasing the temperature to do a mashout (and then do a 15 minutes mashout). During that time I stir the grains every 5 minutes or so.

I'm pretty sure this has been asked before but here goes. My water is quite alkaline.
I was thinking (before I try all grain) about trying a partial mash with extract , base malt, and crystal.
I am aware the crystal just needs to be steeped not mashed but...
I think the crystal will have a tendency to bring the ph of the mash down and that is what I want to do.
Does it make sense to add the crystal to the base malt and steep/mash it together? I have a ph meter that I can check the ph...

Last post

Thanks Lumpy5oh I'll go for it and see how it goes. By the way the slinkie thing is very funny. :)

HI,
Can someone help me to find info on this topic. I don't seem to be able to find anything on adjusting mash PH. The fact that I can't find anything leads to believe that it's not that important.
Regards

Yesterday I received a PM that was essentially asking how to work out where the sugars come from and go in the production of sweet liquor. The PM finished with...
My foggy brain, cannot figure a way to measure the sweet liquor left in the spent grains.
The main error the questioner was making is an easy one to make; he was trying to find the answer to the above by weighing. Not only did he weigh the spent grain, he even dried it and weighed that as well.

The problem is that when you weigh...

Last post

Just had a question via PM re the files above having the 'Adjust Volume Loss from Lauter to:' field set to 0.4. I'd done the first half of the diagram before noticing that I'd used a file with that default in it.

0.4 would be a good default to use for a stove-top brewer using a small grain bill of a few kilos or about 5 pounds. The default the BIABacus uses is a bit over 0.6 and is a good place to start for say a grain bill of around 5 kgs / 11 pounds. Double batches or really heavy beers...

I believe they are all TopsFlo brand ( TopsFlo.com ) and then re-branded
to us solar pumps; onclick= window.open(this.href);return false;

I like the ones in the solar water pump section, all of these
are 1/2 NPT or BSP threads. This one is the top dog; onclick= window.open(this.href);return false; ... cts_id=241

The pump pictured can be found in the circulating pump section of the main link,
caution about the thread size...

Last post

They work pretty well and handle the temperatures we use. The two main problems I found with them are that you must recirculate hot water through them after you brew or the sugar gums them up pretty quickly. The pump housing is also plastic so they can snap under the thread if you put any pressure on them. Other than that they have a nice medium flow rate and they are pretty cheap to buy.

When I switched from extract/partial mash to BIAB about five batches ago, my beer went from good to sweet and unattenuated. I've ruled out yeast health and fermentation temperature control, which leaves wort fermentability. I recalibrated my mashing thermometer. It was reading 4 degrees F too low (so I was mashing 4 degrees above the target temperature). I've been mashing at 150 degrees for 90 minutes. I don't have means to measure PH - I tried the paper strips but did not believe...

Starch gelatinization causes Starch to quickly break down to Amylopectin and Amylose, which are both long-chain carbohydrates.
Then Alpha-Amylase, By acting at random locations along the starch chain,
break down the long-chain carbohydrates, ultimately yielding maltotriose and maltose from Amylose,
AND maltose, glucose and limit dextrin from Amylopectin.

Because it can act anywhere on the substrate, Alph-Amylase tends to be faster-acting than...

Last post

That is what we get when we Crush the Grain, instead of Grinding it....

Am now getting close to double figures on my brew days, and am starting to think I have my brew day, sorted, not the brews just the order I should be doing things :), and would like to start to polish my method.

I normally don't dunk, just lift out the bag, squeeze and go straight to boil.

I have read else where it can create better beer if you 'hold back' a little of the strike water for a dunk.

Your thoughts and advice, gratefully received.

Yettiman

Last post

Great info. Thanks! However, there's a huge section on the board where Ralph demonstrates maxiBIAB and he dunks. It's a bit confusing because it's presented as a how to for maxiBIAB but it seems it's not best way to do it. Am I missing something? As Mad-Scientist says above, it is not ideal.

Re-read post #4 above and the links within carefully. Basically any time you stray from full-volume brewing (simultaneous mash and sparge brewing - what pure BIAB is) you are going to end up with a cost...

I've done four brews now, and it's coming clearer with each one that taking temps is a very complicated issue.

So, you have a large kettle with a bag full of grains in it, the whole mass is heated from the bottom up, but in between there's that large layer of grain. So when you want to mash at 66, where do you measure that from?

In all my brews the temps have gone down a few degrees more after adding the grains, than what the BIABicus calculates. After that I turn the flame on again to bring...

Last post

Short on time but this might help as well. So, you have a large kettle with a bag full of grains in it, the whole mass is heated from the bottom up, but in between there's that large layer of grain. So when you want to mash at 66, where do you measure that from? RULE: You must always agitate/stir the mash before taking its temperature otherwise you are just measuring a pocket (as Contrarian mentioned.) In all my brews the temps have gone down a few degrees more after adding the grains, than...

Another thing to remember is that 'Gravity into Boil (GIB)' should always be coupled with a 'Volume into Boil (VIB)' measurement as what we really want to get from these two numbers is a pre-check on our kettle efficiency. VIB and GIB are hard numbers to measure so we can't give them too much weight. All they can do is act as a pre-check, our first kettle efficiency reading.

For various reasons I am investigating the possibility of starting the brew day the night before.

I have read a few threads on overnight mashing but would like to pose a few thoughts/questions in relation to mashing hot versus doughing in cold and then mashing the next day.

The overnight mashing I have read seems to centre around doughing in at mash temp as normal then insulating and leaving the mash overnight. Then next day heating up to mash out and moving on with boil etc as...

Last post

In my experience overnight mashes gave me thinner beer and lower FG. I stopped because if this, however it may have been due to temp loss causing prolonged periods at lower mash temps, which won't affect you with a braumeister. I now mash out and pull grain before bed then boil on day2 and have brewed excellent beer this way. Also, none of my overnight mashes caused any sourness and sometimes temp dropped to around 50C.

I am trying to settle into one consistant dry hopping regimen.
Can anyone everyone recommend their favorite?
I am talking,when,where( fermentor,keg),clearing methods etc.
I would say that clearing is my biggest issue,it seems to be adding weeks to my turnaround,even when using pellets in a sack.
I know BobBrews has a lot of practice in this and I am sure others will be able to chime in with some coherent advice! :lol:

Last post

nicko,

Dry hopping can bring a real kick in the nose for some lackluster beers. Another gun in your brewing arsenal. It's just a tool to use while building a beer.

Thanks Bob, it certainly was with this beer, I must find someone that's had the CraftBrewer Nelson Summer Ale *cough* Pistol *cough* to find out how it ideally should taste. Next time I'm in Brisvegas I'll head to the CB pub instead of the German club, it won't be easy ignoring those pork knuckles and Four Pines Kolsch on tap,...

Hi, wondering if anyone has some insight on increasing the efficiency when using a large grain bill?

I'm pretty new to AG brewing but have been getting 75% efficiency or above so far. Wanting to try an imperial stout at around 9% abv and BIABacus is showing 62% efficiency which is a big drop.

Is it best to increase water volume to get a thinner mash and boil for longer to get down to the volume you want?

Or is batch sparging / rinsing the bag the way to go?

Or just compensate with a bit...

Last post

Instead of all the extra electricity, time and effort a bit of extra grain should do the trick. I'm not too sure how to write this one AFTM, so bear with me...

If you use other software, besides the BIABacus, a bit of extra grain will easily solve your problem because all other software works on the myth that for every x weight of grain added you will get y weight of sugar extracted. It's simply not the case. That is like me saying to you that no matter how dirty your jeans are, I will be able...

Thought I'd share my removable Tun Cosy for keeping mash temp steady in a stainless steel pot. It's made of expanding foam and it's dead cheap to make. Used it for a few brews now and my mashes drop less than 1 deg C every time. Beats wrapping towels around the mash!

Here's an instructable I did for it. Probably better to link than post all the photos here :geek:

Cheers!

Last post

I'm not implying that mashing in a cooler wouldn't be full volume though :dunno: Just saying that if you want to stick to one vessel then you're not going to have the luxury of doing your mash (full volume or not) in a pre-insulated container. I am having another crack hear Bear. I wrote some long post here 48 hours ago but deleted it because I was tired and drunk :).

Firstly an insulated container should not be viewed as a luxury. That vessel, if used as a mash tun, will unless you agitate it...

I always brew by myself. It seems that many thing in brewing seem to be easiest if you have three hands.

I like to pour my grains into the mash water at a bit of a height, say 12-18 (30-50cm). I feel like its prevents dough balls. I also like to agitate the mash as I add the grains.

So 2 hands to hold and pour the grain and 1 more hand to move the water around...... :think: :scratch:

Got a good solution?

Trout

Last post

PP, thanks for your insite into why I really dont need to stir while I pour in my grains, but it is just one of those things.... I just HAVE to do it :dunno: .

So this is my latest idea for pouring grain.... I have two containers that hold about 11 pounds of grain AND fit under my grinder( by design I may add :smoke: .) I am going to add a simple handle to the side each container! ind of like a giant beer mug!

Forum permissions

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum